Page 24 of One Last Time?
My frown deepened when she sat up as he reached us. The bright afternoon sun beamed down on him, highlighting his finest assets, which was everything.
While I straightened up and looked at him, Abby assumed goddess mode and looked at Dylan like she could own him if she wanted to.
“Ladies, good afternoon.” He smiled, looking from me to Abby.
“Yes, it is good.” Abby beamed, taking charge. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I just… came to see Taylor. I had a few things I wanted to talk about.”
“If it’s about work, it can wait until tomorrow,ifshe wishes to return to the office that is. She’s relaxing.”
Sometimes I really,reallyloved my sister. This was one of those times because Dylan looked shocked by that comment of hers.
Shocked, but he chuckled. “It’s not all about work, I swear. But that’s where she knows me from, so I may have a thing or two to say about work.”
“That wasn’t how I heard it happened, but call it whatever you want, I suppose.” Abby stood up and walked right up to him, showing off her perfect gym body. “I’m Abby Cartwright, Taylor’s older sister. Like I said, she’s relaxing, so keep the work talk to a limit. The other stuff’s fine.”
Damn. Why couldn’t I be like that?
To add to the vision of her, she sauntered away from us like she was some badass boss lady, glanced over her shoulder once, and went into the house.
“Wow, does your sister always talk like that?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I simply continued to stare. “Why are you here? Did my father send you?”
“No, he didn’t. I came of my own free will to check on you.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Why would you do that?”
“Yesterday was kind of a disaster, and you weren’t at work today.”
‘Disaster’ wasn’t the word I would use. It felt like I was ambushed. “I didn’t feel like going in.”
He lowered his body to sit on the deck chair opposite me. Concern filled his eyes.
“Are you coming in tomorrow?” he asked with a tentative expression.
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”
“Are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should.”
“Why?” I brushed my hair over my shoulder but kept my gaze trained on him. This was my attempt to cut the shit from my mind like Abby suggested and hear him out.
“I was hoping we could start over. Start over fresh. I owe you an apology for the way things have turned out. My job was to help you, not tear you down, and that’s what happened. I promise I’m going to fix it.”
Now he really had my attention. “Fix? Dylan, I’m confused because you came to work finding fault with every single thing I did. You didn’t have a good thing to say about me.”
“I know, and it was the wrong way to go about it.”
“Wrong way to go about it, but you still disagree with my process?”
He chuckled. “I don’t think it’s actually for me to agree or disagree. It’s more the case of working with what’s best for Cartwright PR. The only person who knows that is you, so if you allow me, I’d like to find a different way to work with you and restore the faith your father should have in you. I think he’s nervous about you taking over, and I made the situation worse. I promise you tomorrow will be heaps better.”
I sighed and nodded. “Okay… but if you turn into a prick, I’m gone. I mean for good, and I won’t care. Cartwright PR may be where my heart wants to be, and it may be the best, but it’s not the only place. I don’t want to go to work every day dreading what the day will be like. Or being made to feel stupid.”
